documentation of the hazardous materials assessment, alignment
selection decisions regarding hazardous materials, and preliminary
commitments due to the known or possible presence of hazardous materials.

Procedure Overview

Although this manual focuses primarily on transportation projects,
other types of right of way or property acquisition efforts may
benefit from the information provided. These include, but are not limited
to, advanced or hardship acquisition, corridor preservation, maintenance
facility acquisition, enhancement projects and transit projects.

Hazardous material contamination may be encountered on any
transportation project during construction. Contamination sources
can be found in existing, adjacent and proposed right of way. The
potential for contamination should be assessed as early as possible
when developing transportation plans or during project programming
and development. Often, if the danger is identified early, more
options are available to avoid or minimize impact to the project
and to implement a cost-effective approach for handling the hazardous
material contamination. The findings of site assessments and investigations
should be well documented.

During advanced planning, early participation is needed from
the following:

local entities such as city,
county or metropolitan planning organizations

other affected district functional areas, such as planning
and programming, advanced project development, environmental, right-of-way,
design and construction staff

TxDOT divisions such as Environmental Affairs Division
(ENV), Right of Way Division (ROW), Design Division (DES) and Construction
Division (CST)

the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Information obtained during site assessments and investigations
must be communicated from one functional area to another within
districts and divisions, either in writing or orally (such as in project
design concept meetings).

Known or possible hazardous materials concerns, including
cost considerations, should be integrated into the project coordination,
alignment selection and decision-making processes. The decision-making
process requires experience and knowledge of procedures in hazardous
materials, right-of-way negotiation and acquisition, property management,
design and construction. Additional discussions and meetings may
be required to determine the most cost-effective approach to handling
known or potential hazardous material contamination. The financial
impact of pursuing further investigation and/or preventive action
should also be considered. Other environmental issues, health and
safety concerns, design feasibility, liability and costs must be
considered when rendering the decision to avoid, minimize redesign
or properly handle the concern prior to or during construction.

Early coordination with potentially responsible parties (PRPs)
and regulatory agencies is recommended. Preliminary or required
commitments should be identified or outlined during advanced planning,
prior to finalizing environmental documentation and the project
decision-making process. Affected parties, entities, district functional
areas, divisions and FHWA, as appropriate, must agree to commitments
for further investigation, site closure, preventive action and/or
waste management.

The documentation for state and federal environmental approvals
or clearances should provide full and open disclosure of any environmental
consequences that may result from the proposed project. The assessment
and investigation findings, decisions, considerations and coordination
should be documented in the project files and summarized in any
required environmental documentation. Required permits, approvals
and coordination should be specifically identified in the environmental document.

In addition to the environmental document, information about
known or possible hazardous material contamination must be tracked
in the Environmental Tracking System Database (ETS); through this
database, the information can be incorporated into cover memos for
environmental documentation, approvals or clearance letters, and
preliminary design schematics. This information should be forwarded
to the appropriate planning, advanced project development, environmental,
right-of-way, design and construction staff to facilitate communication.
Commitments will require continued coordination in all stages of
project development to ensure that any concerns are properly handled
prior to or during construction. Design changes should be reassessed
for possible hazardous material concerns. In some cases, there
may be property management requirements to consider during post-construction
maintenance activities. Assessing the risks of hazardous material
early on, and communicating any resulting concerns to the appropriate
district and division personnel throughout the various stages of
project development, will help to avoid surprises and reduce costs.